[ Last time we saw Ada, Ethan, and Sei, they were talking. Which was a nice change of pace, but the time for talk is at an end! ...sort of. ] [ Ethan's been out practicing for a while, and it's gotten late. Sei's got his nose in a book, and it's not likely you'll be able to pry it out anytime soon. Adamom is worrying about cooking supper too soon and it getting cold. Thus, it falls to Ada to go find the goatee'd one. It's not quite a quest, but it's something to do. ] [ It's almost night, and the moons are already out, both of them looking large and bright and pretty. The sky seems clearer on this side of the Ironwall, although the moons have been turning odd colors throughout the afternoon, as if banks of colored mist were drifting across the sky. ] [ We find Ada standing outside the treestump/home/bachelor's coven. She's about to set off for ADVENTURE. Session start! ] * Ada looks around. Where could Ethan have gone to. Actually, let's just start with, "Ethan! Get over here!" * Ada frowns when she doesn't get a response and heads off around the tree thing, looking for him. [ Ada sees no Ethan. ] * Ada sighs, then looks around for a likely direction for him to have snuck off to. The boy'd better not be getting lost. [ Ada finds an apple core near the westward rim of the clearing. Nearer to the treeline is a chicken leg that's been picked clean. Ethan must've gone thataway. ] * Ada eyes. Go figure. She starts a gesture, then stops before she finishes the magic, clenching her hand into a fist and forcing it to her side. She stalks after the trail of leftovers. [ A bit ahead Ada sees a pair of young-looking faeries picking curiously at a bit of cooky that the goatee'd wonder must have dropped along his way. They seem to be wondering if it's safe to eat. ] * Ada watches them curiously for a moment, but keeps walking. If they don't bother her, she won't bother them. [ They don't bother her at all. Although one of them begins to vibrate alarmingly after eating a chocolate chip. ] * Ada continues to follow the trail in the dying light. Dying! (Rage against it, Ada.) [ Yes, but does she rage against the dying of the light? ...wait, no. That comes later. ] (*rages!*) ( Ada SMASH! ) [ Ada finds more debris on the path indicative of Ethan's passing. ] * Ada goes! Eew, custard. [ Overhead the moons are turning color again, this time to a deep, lovely shade of red. Continuing along what seems a path, Ada begins to hear water falling in the distance. ] (Red moons is normal, I assume.) * Ada looks in the direction of the water, then down at the trail. Same way? [ Yup, same way. And no, red moons are not normal. At least, not on your side of the Ironwall. Doesn't change the fact that it's pretty, tho. ] * Ada goes the same way. She spares the moons a worried glance. [ Ada finally finds Ethan in a forest clearing near a waterfall. The trees shows signs of having been used for target practice; one in particular has had a sizeable chunk removed. Ethan... looks different, somehow. Bigger, perhaps? ] * Ada stares at him for a moment, then shakes her head. Maybe it's a trick of the moon... "Ethan?" * Ethan looks askance at Ada, and takes a step back, clutching his head. "I don't know what you did to me with that last spell... god it feels like my brain's on fire. Why are you doing this?" * Ada blinks. Doing what? [ Ethan suddenly grows larger in a visible burst, the hide of his shirt stretching audible as muscles bulge across his normally lanky frame. ] 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Ethan (2d6-3) and gets 4. * Ada watches, but doesn't flinch or take a step back. "Ethan, what's going on?" * Ethan seems to notice his arms. "What the hell... what's happening to me?" *looks up at Ada* "What are you doing to me, Ada? The fireballs, the earthquake, and the pain... god the pain..." But I never *did* anything. Ethan, I- The moons aren't supposed to be red. When did this start? * Ethan holds his head in his hands, face eyes closed. "I was just doing my katas... pretending the tree was you, and you were hurt, and there were people attacking us, trying to get you... so many of them trying to get you... and they just kept coming, and coming, and trying to get you, and I was fighting them off, and winning, and I was protecting you like I said I would..." But then suddenly you were there, and you were angry, like you were angry at me for protecting you... didn't want me protecting you... and you attacked me, and I thought it was just more target practice, but then you hit me and it hurt so bad, and I knew it wasn't... * Ada takes a few steps forward. She sounds unusually gentle. "There's nobody else here. I'm not under attack. And I'm not angry at you, see? I never attacked you, not outside of the practice we had." * Ethan snaps his head up. "Don't lie to me! What am I, an idiot?! I felt the heat of those fireballs as I rolled away from them! Just because I don't wanna be serious all the time, and try to lighten things up, that doesn't mean I'm some kind of incompetent!" If you were incompetent, I would have refused your help long ago. * Ethan clutches his head in his free hand. "Just wanna make sure you stay safe... trying my best... care about you... try ta make you happy... but all I get are glares and scowls and insults... never a kind word, never a kind glance... but that's okay, because you're safe, and that's what matters, right? Safe and sound, sound and safe..." Never asked for anything in return, never expected anything in return... but a guy can hope, right? And when I finally get something back, what is it? A fireball! A goddamn fireball, and the pain, shooting through my body, and my blood boiling, and my head spinning, and the world going dark and light and everything's wrong and why are you DOING THIS?! But I'm not doing anything! Damnit, Ethan! How can you accuse me of doing something when I'm right here, talking to you! But you were before! Before you got here, you were... before you got here... how could you have been here before you got here? You were over there, then over here, and here is here and there is there... or is here there and there here? I *wasn't* here before. I was back in the house, trying to avoid the witch and letting you do your practice. The only reason I came out here is because she doesn't want your dinner getting cold. * Ethan starts turning around slowly. "It doesn't make sense... Ada wouldn't do this to me... Ada cares about me, she said so... but she doesn't act so? So what is so? Actions speak louder than words... but actions aren't spoken, so how can they be louder? * Ethan shakes his head. "No, no, Ada wouldn't do this. Not Ada. Not the Ada I know... but I don't know Ada. Do I? What's there to know? Is Ada Ada? Or is Ada someone else, hiding underneath Ada? Looking like Ada, acting like Ada, but not really Ada, really someone else, someone not like Ada... someone who doesn't care about the things Ada cares about..." * Ada watches Ethan, a worried look flashing across her face before she squelches it. "Magic... magic in this place is strange. Maybe it made a phantom of me or something." (SQUELCH!) (I love that word.) Magic... it's all about magic. Protect you with magic, protect you from magic... the magic givith Ada, and the magic taketh Ada away... no. Not take Ada away. I won't let it take Ada away. No magic, no gods, no elves... *looks up at Ada* ... are you Ada? * Ada nods, keeping her hands visible. "I'm Ada." ... but which Ada are you? Are you the Ada I'm protecting, the one who cares about me? Or are you the other Ada, scowling at me, yelling at me, throwing spells at me, making me hurt so bad I can barely think... or are you both Ada? Or neither? Or are they more Ada's, hidden inside Ada, that I don't even know? I'm not hurting you, am I? As far as I know, there's really only one of me. But if you're you, and you're here, why were you there attacking me? Unless... It wasn't me. * Ethan looks up, and his expression darkens. "Unless you're not really Ada. Unless you're someone else, using magic to trick me, to make me think you're Ada, when you're really after Ada, trying to hurt Ada, trying to hurt me to get me out of the way so I can't protect Ada, using your magic... that's it, isn't it? You want to hurt Ada, don't you?!" *advances slowly* * Ada takes a step back, now. "What? You're not making any sense!" No, it all makes sense! You're trying to hurt me so you can hurt Ada! Well you can't! I'm not gonna let you hurt Ada, you hear! Nobody's gonna hurt Ada while I'm still standing! But I never *did* anything! If you're going to accuse me of hurting people, at least do it if I actually do it! * Ethan continues advancing, faster now. "It doesn't even matter if Ada doesn't care about me... I promised her I'd protect her, and I keep my promises!" * Ada glances behind her and backs away, but she keeps herself from using any magic just yet. "If you attack me, you'll fail that promise." * Ethan keeps advancing, matching pace with Ada, so he's not more than a half- dozen paces away. "I won't fail my promise... not again. I don't fail my promises. I swear I don't. Because I'm... I'm..." * Ethan stops. "... who am I?" * Ada takes another step, then stops. "You're... you're Ethan. Ethan Swordbreaker." Ethan... I'm Ethan. And you're... Ada? * Ada nods. * Ethan screams, clutching his head. He drops his glaive and falls to one knee. It doesn't make sense... I'm Ethan and I'm supposed to protect Ada but Ada attacked me because she wants to hurt Ada so I have to stop Ada from hurting Ada but to stop Ada I have to hurt Ada but I can't hurt Ada because I'm Ethan and Ethan promised to protect Ada... * Ethan looks down at himself. "But this isn't Ethan. Ethan isn't this. I can't be Ethan, can I? But you're Ada, and you say I'm Ethan, so I must be Ethan..." * Ada watches him, completely... lost? She moves forward again, hesitantly putting a hand on his shoulder. "Ethan, I..." [ The redness slowly passes from the moons. ] * Ethan looks up at Ada pleadingly. "Who am I, Ada? Who are you? Who..." *wobbles; then crumples to the ground at Ada's feet* * Ada tries to catch him before he hits the ground, and sets him down a little more gently than he would if he had just fallen. She looks up at the moons, and a scowl passes over her face. "I hate this place." [ Ethan gradually shrinks back to his normal size. ] * Ethan is very, very unconcious. He looks somewhere between peaceful and troubled. * Ada looks down, hesitates, and decides to try to wake him up. She pats him on the cheek. "Ethan?" * Ethan moans softly, but doesn't wake up. * Ada sighs and sits down next to him. "Ethan, I am *not* dragging you back there. You can deal with your dinner being cold." * Ethan stirs, eyes fluttering slightly. He moans somewhat louder, like he's trying to wake up but not quite succeeding. * Ada checks the sky again. "Better." * Ethan opens his eyes. "... ow." * Ada turns her attention back to Ethan. "So, do you remember what happened?" ... huh? * Ada pats him on the forehead. "I thought so." She stands and offers him a hand up. "The moons were red." * Ethan tries to sit up, then clutches his head and lays back down, wincing. "What the hell happened to me? Last I remember, I was practicing, using a tree to represent someone I was tryin' ta protect from attackers... and then everything went wonky." * Ada tilts her head. Wonky? Yeah... it was like I was there, but not... watching things happen to me, but not with my eyes. And... it made no sense. Just images, flashing, nothing I could piece together... I think you were there, and me... but it didn't seem like me... ... and now it feels like someone's been using my head as a throwing mace target. * Ada sighs and sits back down. "You were... changing. Becoming larger, more dangerous. And you knew I was Ada, but thought I was also here to hurt her." She smiles slightly. "You were confused." ( You were funny! ) * Ethan tries to sit up, and succeeds this time, though he wobbles as he does so. He looks around, confused. And then looks at Ada, even more confused. "... I didn't hurt you, did I?" * Ada hesitates, then says, "No. You didn't." * Ethan sighs. "Thank god... wait. I got larger? What the hell?" * Ada idly plays with the grass. "The moons were red. I think it was your curse." She lets out a sigh. "If we didn't have a reason to get rid of it before, we do now." ... so when the moons turn red, I get bigger and go nuts? ... as opposed to getting smaller and going nuts? * Ethan scratches his head. "Was I like how I was when I got small? All silly and stuff?" No. You were... about the opposite, really. What was I saying, then? You thought I had attacked you. I tried to keep you calm, or at least confused, enough not to hurt me, and then the spell ended. ... sorry. * Ada shakes her head. "It wasn't your fault. How are you feeling?" ( "What about all the other stuff Ethan talked about, Ada?" "... what other stuff?" "The stuff abo-" "WHAT OTHER STUFF?" ) (^_^) * Ethan rubs his head. "Physically? Like someone been using my body as a set of war drums for the past week. Mentally? Well, I just found out my curse has another, nastier aspect to it that apparently is completely whacked out and tried to hurt someone I care about... so all in all, not so great." *grins weakly* * Ada watches him. "We'll fix it." 'course we will. No curse, no psychotic elven sorceress, no black-clad elven assassin, no bitch-laughing megalomaniac in a chain-mail bikini, no army, no freaky monster thingee, and certainly no curse can stop Ethan Swordbreaker. *grins; thumbs up* * Ada chuckles. "But a headache can." ... well, yes. I'm only human, after all. * Ada leans back on her elbows. "Mmm hmm." She looks up at the sky again. ... you're taking this all remarkably well. (She's well balanced. Aw yeah.) (Haaahahahaha. Ahem.) * Ada shrugs. "How should I take it? I mean..." She hesitates, then continues, "All considered, there's just been... a lot happening recently. This is just something else to add." Sorry to add to the pile. I'll try not to go insane again for at least a couple of weeks. * Ada tilts her head and focuses on him. "Like I said, it's not your fault." Still. You have enough on your mind without me growing extra spleens and rampaging across the countryside. * Ada snickers. "You won't do that." She pauses. "I *hope* you won't do that." Aw, don't worry Ada. Despite the fact that my curse has new and more dangerous effects that we don't yet understand and have no way of predicting or controlling, I have full confidence that it won't cause any real problems or hinder my ability to protect you from whatever dangers might cross our paths! * Ada pats him on the shoulder. "You do that. Has the headache died yet?" Kinda. Feels a bit better, but still like I got my bell rung pretty good. (It's Doctor Bong! *bong*) * Ada nods. "Well enough to walk?" * Ethan grabs his glaive, and uses it to push himself to his feet. He takes a couple of experimental steps, and manages not to fall over, although he still looks very wobbly. "I guess so." * Ada stands, also, and moves to help him. "Don't push yourself." * Ethan hesitates for a moment, manly pride battling with practicality. Practicality wins out, bringing its record to 53 wins against 13,412 losses, as Ethan accepts Ada's help in remaining upright. (*laughs*) ( Ethan's practicality celebrates with a night on the town. ) * Ada starts helping him back to the witch's home, keeping things as steady as possible. [ End session! ]